What did Percival call it? A bus? Making an old dragon like me pull all the dead weight.

From high above, Novus slightly shook his head. Silently, he resolved to put Percival and Adrianne intense training.

Novus’ clenched hands spread to his sides, gradually opening them to reveal flickering balls of fire. The fireballs floated out into the air as they rapidly multiplied. One turned into two, two into four and so on. Eventually, so many fireballs burned in the sky that the pulsating wreath crystal seemed to dim.

SLAM!

Having sensed the exuding threat of the multiple floating crimson fireballs, the Slime Colossus slammed down its arms. The expected tremors happened, but what was strange was the way the slime goo oozed out of the now-shrinking Slime Colossus. In the moments it took for more fireballs to appear in the sky, a nearly equal number of regular slimes fled the area.

“Slime Disassembly. Cute.”

The Slime Colossus' question-marked ability from its status window was revealed, but Novus already knew about it from his past. It only confirmed what Novus knew of the Slime Colossus’ prey-like nature.

Slimes fled in every direction as Novus’ hands lowered. Then, with a cold look, the crimson fireballs all fired like comets from space.

Puchi! Sizzle.

Crimson flames flared to life as the fireballs overlapped in the sky and homed in on each fleeing slime. With each impact, a slime was burned alive, and a blackened core was left behind.

To any mage, no matter how many enemies there were, they held a more powerful area-of-effect spell to slay them all. And yet, if any adept mage were to see the way Novus controlled dozens of fireballs with such precision and control, they would be astonished. They wouldn’t believe he was a beginner adventurer; instead, they might say:

“Your mom is a beginner adventurer! Do you expect an adept mage like me to be able to use a magic incantation multiple times at once and then direct every incantation to their target? Even around obstacles? Around each other? I wish!”

Unlike most mages, Novus held two distinct advantages: dragon magic and valuable magic-related experiences. It wasn’t flattery that Angrean people labelled dragons as incredibly gifted magicians. Novus knew dragons saw the world of mana in a totally different way. He was living proof of it.

Novus couldn’t currently touch on dragon magic. The fact that he was a human wouldn’t even be the biggest challenge to getting there. However, he could touch on the essential knowledge and accumulated experiences for a sturdy magic foundation.

Tch.

However, the current Novus still wasn't satisfied.

In fact, out of the tens of crimson fireballs, not all of them landed on their targets. A few attacks singed dirt, and some collided with other fireballs. Though the proximity was generally enough to burn away any escaping slimes, and Novus had condensed more than enough spares.

Then, there was the shooting pain that reminded Novus of his body’s inherent weakness. Novus winced as the final crimson fireball burned away the last fleeing slime.

 

 

Novus declined the achievement announcement as his wings gradually eased him back to the ground.

Cough! Cough!

Novus held back the burning blood that scalded his throat and threatened to boil his body.

F*ck. That’s painful.

“Pitiful body. Can’t even use a couple of incantations without aching all over.”

The show of force was enough to eradicate a Slime Colossus, and yet, to Novus, it wasn’t even to spell standard. It was like the difference between Stash's pseudo mana core and the real deal mana cores. However, it was the best Novus could come up with in his current state.

A small circle of dust sprung up as Novus’ foot touched the ground, and his aura receded into its concealed form. Novus’ eyes turned to normal as he looked at the nearby Adrianne and tried to hide his current weakness. It was a brief meeting of eyes before Adrianne quickly turned away and fled a little from Novus’ vicinity.

That’s not strange at all.

It took Novus’ weakened body a moment to hobble over to Adrianne, who was now picking up blackened cores off the ground.

“So, did we get anything worth it?”

However, Adrianne’s back remained facing away from Novus as she picked up blackened cores. Some were too damaged and were simply tossed back to the ground.

Thud.

“I suppose I went a little overboard on the slimes?”

Thud. Thud.

The only response Novus got was the sounds of destroyed slime cores hitting the ground. Finally, Novus tried something that usually broke the silent treatment.

“…I’m sorry?”

The inflection was question-like. Novus wasn’t very good at apologizing; however, it worked as Adrianne finally turned around with a stern look in her eyes. She stamped her feet close to Novus and stuffed the blackened slime cores into his arms.

“Apology accepted.”

Novus got a strange sense of déjà vu, but he couldn’t place it in his memories. Then, before slipping away into thoughts, Adrianne continued to speak.

“Next time, if you have a way of beating monsters so easily, let us know! We could have kept Percival from dying. He’s messaging the group chat like crazy, you know. He won’t shut up about the dropped items.”

Novus was stunned. Adrianne’s quickly turning pace made him so, but it was more so the odd happiness he felt. Of course, he denied it and would vehemently protest about it if asked, but on the inside, it felt nice to be in a party with someone again.

It’s been too long since I battled alongside others. It’s a different way of fighting; I guess I forgot that.

Adrianne continued to rummage around the area, and Novus soon followed suit. He even managed to find what he assumed was the Slime Colossus' first-kill item.

 

 

Circe will enjoy this.

A light smirk grew on Novus’ face at the thought of Circe’s excitement.

If only I could get more. Maybe there are more slime colossi around?

Novus swiped away the divine wisdom with a pained protest from his body and resolved himself to gathering the other materials and herbs in the area. His only regret was that the massive size of the wreath crystal meant his inventory couldn’t hold it. And, Novus had neither the strength nor tools to break a chunk off.

With no carrying option, Novus was left to ponder over the wreath crystal.

It's pulling in water and sending it somewhere. But why? And how did it get here? A wreath crystal this large should only be in deep underwater areas. There’s no way it grew here naturally.

It didn’t make sense, and to Novus, that feeling was the most uncomfortable. Novus shook off the thoughts. He had already gotten what he had come here for, and it was about time that he headed back to turn in Circe’s quest.

“Adrianne, let’s get out of here.”

…

“Adrianne? Hey, I already apologized. Adrianne?”

A shivering feeling ran across Novus’ entire body. It paused his steps and kept his body deathly still.

Novus was familiar with this feeling. He had already experienced it countless times on battlefields.

It was the lingering feeling of death brushing up against his skin.

Soon, a soft, melodic voice floated into Novus’ ears.

“Why do you smell like a dragon?”

A light sniffing sound followed a blue-jay-coloured dress that wisped past the corner of Novus’ vision.

“Oh, and a hint of divine too. Interesting. Sleep.”

Without any resistance, Novus’ head slackened as he drifted into a sound sleep.

Thud!

Like magic that all parents wished they had, Novus laid against the ground without a care.

Snore… Snore…

From behind the fallen Novus, an elegant lady in a soft, velvet dress lowered her sharp eyes. Such piercing eyes would make an ordinary person cower from just a glance.

Pew?

The refined appearance was disturbed as a pair of submarine antennae peeked out from behind the lady’s shoulder. Soon, a black beetle body appeared too and scuttled off the lady’s body with a hop.

Pew! Pew!

“This was the one you were talking about, Mino?”

Mino raced around Novus’ sleeping body like there was buried treasure, and Novus was the ‘x’ that marked the spot.

“Hmm, interesting.”

The lady talked with a calm majesty to her, but Mino seemed unaffected. Instead, it rapidly spun around, and if it could speak, it would repeat the word ‘yes’ thousands of times.

“What about the other one?”

The lady lightly looked over her shoulder at the sleeping Adrianne. But, Mino only looked towards Adrianne for a moment before it resumed circling Novus’ body.

“I suppose that is all then.”

The woman casually flicked her index finger upwards, and enough mana surged to propel the woman, Mino, and the sleeping Novus into the air.

Snap!

With a single snap, the trio disappeared and left Adrianne to get her beauty rest. It honestly would, since the puddle of vitality-rich goo she landed in would even exfoliate and enrich her skin.